Item A: Sustainability Commission Recommendations

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ATTACHMENT B City of Eugene Internal Operations Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory: Summary of Initial Findings (Sept. 08) 1. Introduction In concert with the values of environmental stewardship held by the community of Eugene, the City organization has implemented numerous internal resource conservation programs. These efforts have resulted in reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Examples of these initiatives include ongoing efficiency upgrades at the wastewater treatment plant, use of alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles and a long-term energy management program for City buildings. The City of Eugene has completed inventories of both internal and community-wide GHG emissions since 2005. This report is the final piece of the initial quantification phase and completes the work begun with the preliminary internal inventory undertaken in 2005 with the assistance of University of Oregon students, continued with the Community GHG Inventory and now completed with this detailed assessment of emissions from City operations. The Sustainability Commission has identified climate change as an important issue and one of the top priorities. The Sustainable Business Initiative (SBI) report concludes that proactively addressing climate change through mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas 1 emissions and specifically carbon emissions will have positive economic, social and environmental impacts on our community. This inventory provides the information necessary for the preparation of an internal city operational climate action plan. 2. Key Findings The inventory of greenhouse gas emissions from City operations includes a 1990 estimate based on limited data, and calculated figures for the years 2000 and 2005. The most striking finding of the analysis is that, after total emissions increased about one-third between 1990 and 2000, there has been no growth – and actually a slight decline - in GHG emissions between 2000 and 2005 (see graph on page 2). In other words, City operations have succeeded in arresting growth of GHG emissions over the last five years. This is especially impressive in the face of continued growth of City services. The amount of GHG emissions per City employee has decreased by 4.7% between 2000 and 2005. This has been achieved primarily with substantial investment in efficiency upgrades and hybrid vehicles, and a change to the use of partially bio-based fuels. While 1 Carbon is a shortened form of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. All greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and others can be described in terms of carbon dioxide equivalency, the amount of CO2 that would have the same global warming potential, when measured over a specified timescale (generally, 100 years). 1